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Seagrass | Practice: Saving an ecosystem most people have never heard of
Episode 22
Sunday, 1 March, 2026
In this episode of Big Ideas Only, Mikkel Svold reconnects with Dr. Benjamin Jones, Chief Conservation Officer and co-founder of Project Seagrass, to explore what happens when seagrass theory meets real-world conservation.Moving beyond the science of carbon capture and marine ecology, this conversation digs into the practical challenges of protecting an ecosystem that most people have never thought about. Benjamin shares stories from fishing communities in Indonesia and Florida, explains why government departments struggle to coordinate land and sea management, and describes how citizen science and political engagement have become surprisingly effective tools. The discussion reveals that saving seagrass often has little to do with planting seagrass — and everything to do with what happens on shore.In this episode, you'll learn about:Why 13.5 million people living below the poverty line depend directly on seagrass for their daily foodHow seagrass meadows store carbon for up to 200,000 years — and release it rapidly when destroyedThe governance gap between marine and terrestrial management that makes coastal protection so difficultWhy restoring seagrass sometimes means planting fruit trees along riverbanks insteadHow Wales created the world's first National Seagrass Action Plan through cross-party dialogueWhat everyday actions (diet, driving, citizen science) actually connect to seagrass healthEpisode Content 00:54 Project Seagrass milestones: from undergraduate idea to global organization02:28 Why seagrass was called the "ugly duckling" of marine conservation04:36 Bajo communities in Indonesia: fishing families who live on seagrass meadows06:58 Local knowledge: how coastal communities track seagrass changes over generations11:34 The indirect dependencies most people don't realize (cod, pollock, Mediterranean fisheries)15:04 Carbon time bomb: the 200,000-year-old seagrass meadow in Ibiza 16:18 Restoration approaches: why you can't just plant seagrass everywhere17:48 Fruit trees as seagrass conservation: solving sedimentation through riparian planting20:32 The governance problem: marine and terrestrial agencies that don't talk to each other23:02 Citizen science and the Seagrass Spotter app31:19 Political progress: Wales' National Seagrass Action Plan33:17 Why nature will recover faster than humans can replant — if given the right conditions This podcast is produced by Montanus.
